The life-drawing class I attend regularly has several good features. One of these is the fact that there is a long list of models who sit for us. You never know from one week to the next who will be posing for us. Thursday’s session introduced us to somebody new. She was really excellent, and I have been prompted to think about just what it might be that makes for good model.
During the break we had a brief conversation, and I asked her if she was a professional dancer. It is possible to tell pretty well instantly whether or not this is the case, because there is always something poetic about the way a trained dancer moves. I was right. The previous week’s subject didn’t have that kind of training, although I was similarly impressed by her work. Thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that what makes a good model is determined by whether or not the pose they adopt has intentionality. The pose is not an arbitrarily chosen arrangement of limbs, but a deliberate and meaningful action that has been interrupted in mid-flow, although its purpose is still fully evident. If nothing is actually happening in a pose then the result produced by the artist inevitably will bear the stamp of artificiality.
It might well seem strange to say so, but it is possible for a model just to stand well. Why is she standing? Is she in a queue? Is he watching somebody and doesn’t want to be noticed? I haven’t an opportunity to check this at the moment, but didn’t Stanislavsky talk about the “creative if”? It seems that models need to be actors too.